Fifty Moments in the Lives of Greece and Japan
by infiniteowl
Summary: Written for the 1sentence LJ community about Greece and Japan's relationship and what each one cherishes about it. Just how much can two nations from different continents mean to each other? A lot more than you might think.


This series of 50 sentences was written for the 1sentence LiveJournal community. I claimed the pairing of Greece/Japan over there and chose to use the theme set Beta for them (which is where the numbered prompts originate from). The sentences are not in chronological order and take place at different times during Greece and Japan's relationship.

Disclaimer: Axis Powers Hetalia and its characters belong to Hidekaz Himaruya, not me.

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1. Walking

Their walks are always leisurely and take even longer when Greece attracts more cats than they can carry, and Japan wouldn't have them any other way.

**2. Waltz**

"I asked America to teach me how to dance," Japan says, and Greece blinks at him in surprise and maybe a little bit of envy, before Japan extends a hand to him and asks hesitantly, "May I?"

**3. Wishes**

A shooting star streaks across the night sky as Greece points out to Japan the final homes of the gods he used to converse with, and Japan only realizes hours later that he could have wished on that star if he had been in the mood to.

**4. Wonder**

Japan's eyes are not as dark as the midnight sky and yet no pupils are visible in them, which makes Greece curious about whether they're unnecessary for a person of his nature or simply better guarded and concealed than others', before he gets close enough to confirm that it's the latter.

**5. Worry**

Japan is a growing empire with only two allies he can trust, and yet when it comes time for Italy to invade Greece, he finds himself fervently hoping that Italy will not be any more competent at this task than usual.

**6. Whimsy**

Greece doesn't think much of it when Japan slips yet another pair of cat ears on his head, until Japan reaches into his shopping bag a second time and pulls out a pair of dog ears with a smile.

**7. Waste/Wasteland**

"We'll clean it up together, okay?" Japan says softly as Greece stares morosely at the litter that now clutters his late mother's resting place.

**8. Whiskey and Rum**

Japan does not drink alcohol, but Greece has been shoved up against his side by the cluster of nations gathered in the bar, and he ends up concentrating very pointedly on the drink served to him to avoid concentrating on how he can feel the warmth of Greece's thigh against his own even through two layers of clothing.

**9. War**

Greece looks at Japan and the video game that he's been engrossed in for the last two hours, quietly sets a tray of catnip by his side, and comes back again when Japan calls out for his help in dealing with the sudden influx of cats in the room.

**10. Weddings**

Marriages between nations are only for political ties – and yet when Italy bursts through his door, babbling happily about how he and Germany are going to be wed under their human names as Ludwig and Feliciano Vargas, Japan can't help but wonder, even if only for a moment, what a wedding for Kiku and Heracles Karpusi would be like.

**11. Birthday**

"I don't think China would like video games for his birthday as much as I would, even if that particular one does look interesting," Japan replies, and Greece makes a mental note of where they currently are in the store so that he can return here in secret before next February.

**12. Blessing**

Japan gets as far as "Greece-san, please, you don't have to--" before he sneezes again and Greece gently pushes him back onto the bed, answering "I know I don't have to, but I want to make sure there's someone to bless you every time you sneeze," and feeding Japan another spoonful of lentil soup.

**13. Bias**

When Turkey demands to know whether Japan likes him or Greece more, he politely declines to answer because the fact that Turkey always finds him with Greece, and never the other way around, is proof enough.

**14. Burning**

The air becomes thick with clouds of aloeswood and cinnamon, and Japan and Greece agree sixteen hours later that they should only burn a whole package of incense if they ever come down with an incurable case of insomnia.

**15. Breathing**

Greece is snoring on Japan's shoulder and this might have distracted the latter nation from his reading if Greece's snoring wasn't so rhythmic and his head didn't fit so perfectly into the curve of Japan's neck.

**16. Breaking**

Just as Japan is beginning to pull himself back together, Greece falls apart and Japan can only watch helplessly as Greece's eyes grow unfocused and he jerks around occasionally in his sleep like a puppet on strings, torn between the desire to approach him or at least offer him a word of comfort and the shame of most likely having been partially responsible for his split.

**17. Belief**

"If I'm going to be reincarnated as a cat, you'll be reincarnated as the owner who will find me out in the cold and take me in to feed me the best saucer of warm milk I'll ever taste," Greece says with such conviction that Japan finds himself unable to reply.

**18. Balloon**

The sky is full of flying lanterns of the same shape and size, but Japan can easily single out their lantern with the green half of the paper he used and the indigo half Greece added to it.

**19. Balcony**

Greece claims that the balcony is the best place for him and Japan to bring the cats to get some fresh air, which is as true as his earlier statement that he was completely unaware of the implications of sharing an umbrella in Japanese culture.

**20. Bane**

Japan knows that he isn't the best person around, that he tends to swing between refusing to feel any strong emotions and being consumed by the worst of his emotions with no in-between, but he hopes that he's at least good enough to show Greece the emotions he deserves to know about.

**21. Quiet**

After Japan tells Greece that nothing happened last night, the silences between them go from comfortable to strained until Japan can no longer pretend that it doesn't matter to him.

**22. Quirks**

Greece actually keeps his promise not to laugh after Japan explains why he has tennis balls attached to the top of his head, if only because the mental image of Japan in a short skirt is more cute than funny and it was mainly America's fault for giving him the strongest glue he could find.

**23. Question**

"Which nation are you the closest to?" Greece's boss asks, and when Greece tells him, there's a pause before he comments, "A nation from another continent...is he truly that vital to you?"

**24. Quarrel**

Just because two people get along very well does not necessarily mean their pets will be the same, as Japan and Greece discover when Japan brings Poochi with him and they end up racing across half of Athens in pursuit of one barking dog and nine yowling cats.

**25. Quitting**

Greece is used to sleeping with pretty men and women who make their wants clear to him, if not as flagrantly as France, but lately the number of one-night stands initiated by him has been steadily declining and it takes him a while to realize why.

**26. Jump**

The tangerines on the top shelf are just out of reach for Japan and he's making another futile grab for them when Greece catches him around the waist mid-jump and effortlessly lifts him to chest-level with them, leaving the shorter nation to mutter an embarrassed 'thanks.'

**27. Jester**

Greece knows there are three things that make Japan laugh: _Gintama,_ anatomically impossible drawings, and the sensitive skin on the underside of his arms.

**28. Jousting**

Japan is centuries older than Greece and has not lost his samurai instincts, but Greece shifts so smoothly from lazy-and-content mode to looks-lazy-but-is-really-alert-and-maybe-even-a-little-horny mode that he can still get his arms around Japan or nuzzle his neck before the other nation can react properly.

**29. Jewel**

Greece at first thinks that he's looking at a handful of scattered diamonds, and then he wakes up further and realizes that it's actually the sunlight shining through leaves and casting patterns on Japan's nude back.

**30. Just**

"Is it really right to let them go?" Japan asks, gazing at the now-empty basket of kittens, and Greece replies, "They need to know that there are new places and people out there, and if they can't find a better home, they know where to return to."

**31. Smirk**

If it had occurred a decade or even a year ago, Japan would have immediately brushed away Greece's hand and tried to look like a nation who didn't think about _that_ sort of thing and had no idea what everyone else was grinning at him for, but now he closes his fingers around Greece's and meets the amused looks aimed in their direction with a modest but firm and unyielding one of his own.

**32. Sorrow**

Greece is reasonably certain that the scent of sandalwood wafting from a random store should not put him in mind of a dark-eyed nation more than five thousand miles away who is out of reach more often than not.

**33. Stupidity**

It must have been a combination of the stifling weather outside and the interminable family meeting going on inside that makes Japan excuse himself, press Greece up against the nearest flat surface when the other nation joins him, and stop kissing him only when he hears Hong Kong utter "Fascinating..." behind him with China keeping his hands over his ears, Taiwan weeping, and Thailand giving him a jaunty thumbs-up.

**34. Serenade**

Greece's singing voice, while not exceptional, is throaty and low and pleasant on the ears, and Japan listens idly to him until the song ends and Greece turns to look at him with eyes too clear for him to be drunk and for Japan to look into them for too long.

**35. Sarcasm**

Japan is taken aback when Greece scoots closer _(too close)_ and begins undoing his yukata because he thought that Greece knew him well enough to tell when he's joking, and it isn't until most of his clothes are on the floor and his hands have somehow wound their way into the other nation's soft hair that it occurs to him that it could be not so much as Greece not knowing him well enough but Greece knowing all too well how to look past the surface with him, and this possibility unnerves him greatly.

**36. Sordid**

When Japan insists that he's never thought about things like bondage before, Greece asks him about the boxes of graphic novels he found under his bed the last time he visited and watches his partner's face turn two shades redder with every passing second.

**37. Soliloquy**

"Let's see: I need to meet with my boss, complete my PowerPoint presentation for next week, get the video game prototypes back from America, and visit Greece if I have time _(and that last item is really out of order, but old habits of organization die hard)."_

**38. Sojourn**

Greece and Japan have their own separate homes, but there are little things in them that make them oddly convergent, such as Greece having a snow globe of four beasts encircling the sun on the mantelpiece in his living room and Japan keeping at least five tins of cat food in his kitchen cupboards.

**39. Share**

Japan accepts the soft drink Greece offers him, telling himself that drinking out of the same cup Greece was sipping from a moment ago doesn't signify anything.

**40. Solitary**

Even though Greece isn't as talkative or attention-grabbing as America is, Japan feels his absence even more acutely than America's in his big house, as if a piece of furniture that complements its room so perfectly that it looks like it has always belonged there has been silently moved out without warning.

**41. Nowhere**

Greece has no idea where he is, but Japan is there with him and he reaches out and squeezes his hand tighter and tighter until Greece wakes up in a place he does recognize, his hand still tingling with warmth.

**42. Neutral**

One day, Japan decides to counter Greece's constant gaze on him while housecleaning by looking back at him; the staring contest ends in a draw when their eyes flutter shut at the same time their heads draw closer together.

**43. Nuance**

Japan learns that Greece isn't really asleep but in deep thought about something he needs to concentrate all his senses on when his snores have a distinct rhythm to them.

**44. Near**

The moment the sound of shoes clinking across the stone path is heard, the cats' ears perk up and they raise their heads, followed by their owner's, and the door opens before the visitor has even touched it, making both nations on opposite sides of the door smile in unison.

**45. Natural**

Japan has heard from somewhere that you love the one you hate and he briefly wonders if this applies to Greece and Turkey, until he sees Greece's scowl soften as he sneaks a glance at him before resuming his fight with Turkey and concludes that some people simply love the one they love.

**46. Horizon**

Japan is the land of the rising sun, but he doesn't mind sunsets because he knows that the sun will reemerge without fail in the morning, and he can even enjoy them when Greece is there to stay with him until it gets light again.

**47. Valiant**

As much as Japan dislikes being the source of conflict, he has to admit that Greece glaring at Turkey and drawing Japan closer to him as if daring his nemesis to try and claim what is his isn't too bad a situation to be caught in the middle of.

**48. Virtuous**

_Well,_ Japan thinks dazedly as Greece licks a trail from his collarbone to his navel, _if I'm going to keep on losing my virtue to him, at least I can make sure that it only happens with him._

**49. Victory**

"Watashi wa anata no koto wo totemo aishite iru kara, anata ga konoyo no dokoka ni iru toiu koto ga wakaru dake de juubun nan desu," Greece whispers, and he can tell from the way Japan's eyes widen that his language lessons were successful.

**50. Defeat**

Greece places his final stone on the board with a triumphant smile, and Japan vows to himself that he will never assume that Greece won't rush to learn all he can about a Japanese custom as soon as Japan mentions it ever again.

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A/N:

The English translation of Greece's words in #49 is "I love you so much that just knowing you're somewhere in this world is enough." Major props go to Yumiru for helping me with the Japanese there!

Any constructive criticism of this fill would be much appreciated. :)


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